I understand that Caroline Jones, practice manager, has already written

by the Patient Participation Group to write to you formally to add our

thanks to Caroline’s, and this task I undertake with great pleasure.

We are extremely grateful to you for your support of the practice in this

way. The new machine will much increase the flexibility of the practice in

undertaking 24-hour monitoring. As you may have heard, the awarding of

the grant has prompted the partners to make the remaining cost of the

machine available to enable the purchase of the machine to go ahead.

Many thanks again from the PPG.

Harry Dickinson, Chair, Botley PPG.

outreach centres." This is utterly untrue, as is the article's implication that

it will be business as usual at the Children's Centre. The Children's Centre

operates from a school-owned site, and will cease operating from that

site once County funding comes to an end, after the 28th February. This

is now a certainty as the High Court appeal to overturn this decision has

been dismissed [1].

Last year, in response to widespread outrage at the closure of children's

centres countywide, the council set aside one million pounds in a

'transition fund' to enable community groups to offer similar services. This

is a small fraction of the 9.12 million pounds gross expenditure budgeted

costs for use of the space over a three year period. It is clear that this

transition fund is only meant to cover set-up, rather than ongoing costs.

The County Council will not be running any services at the former

Children's Centre site directly, so the claim that the site will continue to

act as an outreach centre for the council is false.

The closure of the Children's Centre means that the school will lose a

considerable contribution to its running costs, which it must seek to fill

from other sources. As far as I am aware, the situation is as follows.

• The school will use the space formerly used by the Children's Centre

• It is not certain whether or not health visitor and midwife services will

Mick Phillips

2015/16 – 2017/18 and Service Analysis 2015/16

application was approved last June. Members of West Way Community

the official minutes. Other attendees included members of residents’

associations, local churches, Parish, District and County Councilors, and

the Howse family. Mace introduced SDC www.sdc.co.uk who have been

contracted to carry out the construction. They confirmed that it will be a

to lead communications with the community and plan monthly newsletters

on progress and what’s next. As well as more CLG meetings there may

also be public meetings.

Church will eventually move into the new community building but in the

move Seacourt Hall into the former Brasserie B space, the Library into

the two units next door on Chapel Way, and the Baptist Church into the

former Chinese restaurant and Lloyds bank. Mace have now submitted

change of use plans for these units and you can link to the details from

our website. The relocation is expected to be in March or April.

submitted by the developers and posted locally related to Chapel Way

and Church Way. At the CLG meeting we were told that this means

stopping highway rights, not necessarily literally closing the roads. A full

that residential roads could be impacted by contractors parking. SDC and

combine units to accommodate Marks & Spencer’s Food. Comments can

be submitted until 2nd February. Details and links for these applications

can be found on our website.

(www.facebook.com/westwayconcern) or sign up for our e-newsletter by

scheme in the September issue of the Sprout.

from Manor Stables in North Hinksey Lane. The proposal is to enable

flood waters to move more quickly through the area by lowering by one

metre a swathe of land about 20 metres wide either side of the main

Seacourt Stream. Two new bridges are proposed, one to replace the

culverts under Willow Walk, and the other under the Monks Causeway.

Among the landowners are the Oxford Preservation Trust and the North

Hinksey Fields Trust which I chair. This latter trust was established by

Stella Aldwinkle, a great friend of the late Pat Halliday. Rent from the field

is divided among five charities Oxfam, the University Church, the Oxford

Evangelical Pastorate, Lee Abbey and a joint Protestant/Catholic school

Public meetings are scheduled to take place in May when the draft

designs will have been submitted. Securing the land for the project is to

is great but does give the Fixtures secretary some additional work

is how best to represent to the practice the views of the patients as a

practice. Patient confidentiality constraints mean that we cannot have

access to personal information, so we are working with Caroline Jones,

for the increasing number of patients who use it for ordering repeat

prescriptions, booking appointments, accessing their medical records

and so forth. There may be scope for opening a discussion forum on the

presence and activity seems to be by means of regular letters and articles

in all the local parish newsletters.

longstanding friends and former

colleagues. The enclosed

messages often focus on serious

health issues, and thus it was

again this year: a much-loved

nurse colleague is now struggling

with bowel cancer, an old

university friend suffered two

admissions during the year to

intensive care with septicaemia

following prostate biopsy, a former

Botley Medical Centre is actively involved in promoting end-of-life care.

Singing is uplifting, life affirming & fun

information from me at emformusic@outlook.com or call 07969 522368.

day and in the evenings.

Tap Social was founded in 2016, in response to the lack of support and

assistance available for people who have come into contact with the law

and are struggling to turn their lives around. Having worked in a range of

positions across the criminal justice system, its founders have witnessed

too many people, especially those who have spent time in prison,

struggling to access education, training and employment, hindering their

rehabilitation, and drawing them back into a life of crime. The craft

brewing industry is booming and involves a range of transferrable skills,

making it a great way of getting people engaged and interested in work.

The Tap Social programmes, launching in early 2017, gives people

serving prison sentences an opportunity to work closely with the team to

information, get in touch on info@tapsocialmovement.com .

are posted on the website www.tapsocialmovement.com. Please

scene.

The redevelopment will provide a brand new Community Centre where

Management Committee (SHMC) are committed to ensuring continued

availability of nondenominational meeting and party facilities and the

Seacourt Hall will be moving in two phases outlined below.

The plan is for the Hall to move across the road into the premises most

recently occupied by Brasserie B. These units are undergoing a

A plan of the new layout can be found on the NHPC website and large-

open event once refurbishments are completed so you can see the

The current hall is aging and in a poor state and is increasingly costly to

can move. At this stage we have no firm dates but our best estimates are

that we could be vacating Seacourt Hall in March or April. We will provide

30 days’ notice of the moving date. Look out too for the open event when

you can take a look at the temporary facilities.

Yes, everything will be working as normal and, in any event, we will give

you 30 days’ notice before we move. To book please contact Hall

Manager and Booking Clerk: Eric Batts on 01865 821565.

Details of the rooms and rates are available on the Seacourt Hall page of

the NHPC website, or you can contact Eric Batts on the number above,

or you can email us at seacourt.hall@googlemail.com

We hope that you will continue to use Seacourt Hall and will find the

temporary premises satisfactory. We will be contacting regular users to

discuss your requirements but in the meantime please contact Eric Batts

or me if you have any questions.

L A Blizzard, Chairman SHMC

A community fridge is a fridge into which anyone can put food, and from

providing food to

people who need

it. St. Peter &

Paul church is

Would you use food from the fridge? Some people think that a

community fridge would not be used in Botley, and we are trying to see

whether this is the case. It would be very helpful if you could email or text

Riki as above, just saying ‘yes’ if you would be interested in taking food.

You do not have to need the food in order to take it! For more information

about community fridges please see www.foodforcharities.org.uk. The

picture shows the one in Frome. Riki Therivel

stop outside Ss Peter and Paul in January. The welcome we received

Louise Herring on 07716 511669 or see www.cultivateoxford.org

Diners at the Botley Over-60s Lunch Club celebrated Christmas with a

very jolly with two Christmas

trees, garlands around the

room, and the tables laid up

with red covers, red napkins,

Brussel sprouts, carrots, and

Yorkshire pudding were on

the menu, followed by Xmas

Pudding and mince pies, all washed down with a glass of wine or fruit

juice. We always pride ourselves on cooking our food freshly on the

premises but I had to do an emergency run home with one huge piece of

manager as well as a member of the Vale of White Horse District Council

cabinet, brought along the Chairman of the Council, Mike Badcock. They

helped serve some of the meals and poured glasses of wine. The most

prestigious visitor, of course, was Father Christmas who oversaw the

raffle and handed out the prizes. Anyone who didn’t win a raffle prize

was invited to take home one of the lovely table decorations which were

homemade with fresh flowers by a couple of the volunteers.

Two volunteers retired from our team that day and the Christmas meal

marked their last lunch with us. They are too modest to be named and

reluctantly came out of the kitchen to be presented with flowers as thanks

for more than 30-years’ worth of service between them. That’s an awful